Tsunayoshi Sawada, Tamer of Monsters
by Yami No Kaabii
Summary: Monster Tamer Tsuna goes on an epic quest to save Princesses Kyoko and Haru from the White Dragon, Byakuran! And occasionally fools around with his "tamed" Monsters every now and then...
1. Prologue: Castle Hibarin

**Prologue: Castle Hibarin**

Author's Note: Just a refresher on what happens in the actual Monster Tamer Tsuna…

"Tsuna's party finally made it to Castle Hibarin, but they were instantly wiped out by Blood-Sucking Hibarin, except for Yamamoto's brain, Takeshi," narrated Elder Rebo, a wizard clad in star-specked, dark blue robes. He wore large pointy hat with almost indecipherable orange eyes on it, and he was holding a long wooden staff.

"This is really bad, isn't it?" Takeshi had asked, still somehow merry.

Confused, Blood-Sucking Hibarin inquired, "What are you? You don't seem to be worried about your predicament."

The little brain seemed to ignore the vampire, reaching in Rebo's robes and saying, "I remember the wizard dude said something about… There it is! Mon-Mon Candy!"

"Mon-Mon Candy is candy containing the sealed power of monsters," said Elder Rebo. How speaking could be achieved while Elder Rebo was unconscious, nobody knows.

"I just have to feed this to Tsuna," Takeshi the Brain said, placing one candy in the unconscious spiky-haired brunet's mouth. Tsuna bit it, along with…

"He ate my hand too!" Takeshi stated, laughing

Immediately, a bright orange flame ignited upon Tsuna's head, and his fists held Sky-element flames. "Hyper mode engaged! Get ready, Hibarin!" he said, flying towards said vampire.

Jumping to meet Monster Tamer Tsuna, Hibarin said, "I won't lose."

They managed to punch each other's faces…

"It appeared as though they were evenly matched," said Elder Rebo, still unconscious, still narrating. "But!"

At that moment Tsuna's head sort of opened and Tsuna's brain, Sawada, came out, saying "There's still more to come!" Abandoning the now-unconcious body, Sawada – in Hyper Dying Will Mode – flew to Blood-Sucking Hibarin and punched him with his small but… erm… brainy… hands.

"No way…" the vampire Hibarin managed to say, flying backwards and crashing into the wall.

Laughing, Yamamoto's brain rejoiced, "Another brain, just like me!"

"It appears that after eating the zombie hand, he turned into a zombie." The voice was Elder Rebo, who was flying – or maybe "riding" would be a better term – his staff. So he actually _was _conscious after all.

"No way!" said Tsuna, staring up at his brain. Somehow Sawada was dismayed too.

As Tsuna's party exited Castle Hibarin, they praised the Monster Tamer.

"That was fun!" Lambo the (Annoying?) Lightning Bolt stated.

"You did it!" Yamamoto, the Zombie, was, as always, merry.

"That's our boss!" Gokudera the Werecat was overjoyed.

Modestly, Tsuna replied, "It's only because everybody helped."

"I didn't do anything!" said the automaton, Ryohei. Which was true.

Elder Rebo followed behind, riding on his staff. "And so, Tsuna slayed Hibarin and brought peace to the village. However…"

Blood-Sucking Hibarin rose from lying on his glamorous red carpet inside his now-otherwise-empty Castle Hibarin. "I'll pay you back a hundred times over."

"Tsuna's battle will still continue," the great Elder Rebo prophesized. "Maybe…"


	2. Dame Tsuna is a Zombie?

**Dame Tsuna is a Zombie?**

Author's Note: Please note that every chapter will be this short because the original MTT eps were about a minute long each.

Practically all the sleeping villagers could hear a certain kid's dismayed, in-denial "HIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I slammed my ridiculously puny hands down on the wooden table in my living room, making some of my delicious hot chocolate spill slightly. "ME? A _zombie_? Elder Rebo, you've gotta be kidding me! I'm not undead! I'm alive! I breathe! I eat! I-" I got a hard wooden stick to my head. Elder Rebo might have been an elder, but he was _strong._

"Shut up and listen, Tsunayoshi."

Eyes slightly watering in pain, I shut up and tried to listen.

Elder Rebo stood up, pointing straight at me, his finger an inch from my face. "There is a person who I am pointing at; however, he is _not _undead."

"W-What?" I said in a small voice.

Elder Rebo sat again and started to explain…

"Maybe people call zombies, ghosts, spirits, souls – those which walk the earth, that is – undead or the living dead, but this is strictly false. In other words, said spirits are not undead."

_Spirits which are not undead? But if undead means "not dead"… so not undead is "not not dead" … which is a double negative, which would translate to being dead… I am so confused! _I thought, staring at the wizard.

Stars and blackness blossomed over my vision for one instant after the Elder slapped me.

"Tsuna. You are not undead. Yamamoto the Merry Zombie is not undead. Strictly speaking, the best term used to describe somebody of Yamamoto's status is _animated _dead.

"In any case, you… digested… a small bit of the animated brain of one of the animated dead. Fortunately, the piece was not part of the majority of the brain, and so you avoided absorbing the core traits of a zombie; which is to say, you're still living."

_Still? Elder Rebo is so cruel…_

"I suspect that, upon death, you will be…," for some reason, the Elder Rebo paused to smirk at me for an instant, "reborn, for a few hours after death - if your body is primarily intact. Until that time has passed, or until any one of several conditions which shall remain unnamed occurs, you will remain animated. Then, you will die. And by that I mean really die. Forever." The large-eyed wizard looked straight into my eyes. "You have a status of semi-animated. Capiche?"

I wasn't exactly keeping track with what Elder Rebo was talking about. My mind was still focused on his strange smirk and those _several conditions which shall remain unnamed. _Still, I tried to look like I got it. But the elder wasn't fooled.

"Dame Tsuna…" said he, and proceded to kick me.

After I had picked myself up, I demanded, "What was that for?"

Acting as if I hadn't spoken, he continued, "In other words, one, Sawada can leave your body, with no harm to you at all, and two, when you.. pass away, you'll be a zombie for a while before it really happens.

"Then what was that gihugic explanation for, anyway?"

I heard a faint "chuuu… chuuu…" sort of sound, and looked at Elder Rebo in alarm. Was there something wrong with him? But then I realized – he was sitting on the crude wooden chair, a small snot bubble expanding and contracting, the powerful Elder Rebo now encased in the peacefulness of sleep.

Now thoroughly spooked, with my… Panic Switch, as people referred to… at full volume, I screamed at him "Don't _sleep_ in the middle of an explanation!" I sighed when he didn't wake.

While I was climbing the stairs to my room, Elder Rebo sleeptalked, "To be continued…"

I jumped about two feet, hitting my head on the sloping ceiling.

"Elder Rebo…!"


	3. Home of the Monster Tamer

**Home of the Monster Tamer**

A/N: This fanfiction will be ongoing for quite a while. I hope you'll enjoy!

I sighed.

The Merry Zombie Yamamoto was in the backyard, working on getting the giant axe off his head. He was careful not to let the Zombie's Brain Takeshi fall out of said head.

Lightning Bolt Lambo was on his cloud, laughing and circling the roof of my little hut, for who knows what reason.

Bandit Werecat Gokudera, the monster with an endless stream of attacks, was pacing in front of the door(he never swayed more than twenty feet from his "Leader," a.k.a. ME!), sometimes casting dark scowls at the Merry Zombie or the Lightning Bolt.

Ryohei, the automaton with freak strength, was lying lifeless in the corner of the living room without a Mon-Mon Candy to energize it.

And Elder Rebo was _still_ sleeping, saying strange things as he did so.

"Pie… Blood-Sucking Hibarin… prophecy… revenge… I feel hungry... I feel hungry… _I feel hungry!_" And with that, his snot bubble popped and he frowned at me, his never-closing eyes large(like always). "You really shouldn't stare. It's not very polite, All-Around Monster Tamer."

I blinked, confused. "All-Around?"

Gokudera, the Bandit Werecat, looked at Elder Rebo in interest. At least I wouldn't be the only one to hear the wizard now...

"Monster Tamers exist all around this monster-filled world, but most specialize in only one type of monster: Beasts, which are animal-like fiends or fiend-like animals; Undeads, which include ghosts, vampires, mummies, and zombies; and Demons, which are evil humanlike things. Some even tame or train only Combo monsters – monsters belonging to two categories. For example, a ghost dragon would be an Undead Beast." Elder Rebo stared intently at me, checking to see if I got it.

Me, _my_ gaze was unfocused. _Huh. Specializing monster tamers? I only thought that-"_

"Monster Tamers were Monster Tamers, period?" Elder Rebo asked, finishing my thought. He _tsk_ed at me.

_W-Wait a minute, you can… you can hear my _thoughts_?_

Elder Rebo said nothing, only casting a smug smirk my way. "Anyway, said Monster Tamers could chose to train _any_ monster, but because of their ancestry, they work best with a specific type. Only a few, which happen to include you, train all monsters well."

I frowned, thinking, _This is very interesting and all, but not really relevant… the princesses of this kingdom are in danger…!_

Right then, something strange happened. For a few seconds, Elder Rebo faced away from me, away from the Bandit Werecat, away from the front door and the window, away from anything as far as I could tell. He said three words – seemingly to nobody, but I wondered if there was a g-ghost or something there that I could not see. "To be continued..."

"Who are you talking to?" Gokudera fumed, angry and confused. Me, I was just confused.

The wizard simply said, "Oops, I let that slip…"

I sighed. Again.


	4. Training

**Training**

Author's Notes: I'll update every three days or so - feel free to yell and/or scream and/or PM me overly much if I don't.

"So."

_So?_

_"_All right."

_Go on..._

"Let's get down to it."

"Stop beating around the bush, Elder Rebo. Get down to what?"

"Your training… to fight the kidnappers of the princesses of this kingdom."

And those last five words – _the princesses of this kingdom_ - sent my mind into a glorious daze, a realm of thoughts of Princess Kyoko Sasagawa. Her amazing light brown hair, her beautiful hazel eyes, her slight blush on the one day she had visited the village, complimenting her flowing pale pink, flowery dress, her-

"Owowowow…!" I rubbed my left arm where Elder Rebo had punched me. Right. _Stop goofing around and thinking silly things, Tsunayoshi._

"I couldn't have put that better," said the wizard. "I'll shock you, next time you daydream like that…" He waved his old staff in the air to show he meant it. A black thundercloud appeared over Tsuna's head, rolling and flashing lightning.

"HIIEEE!" I shouted, ducking away from the thing.

Shocked(emotion-wise), Gokudera asked, "Elder Rebo, what are you doing to **Shuhan**?" _Great. Now "Leader" is a formal title? Referring to me?_

"Teaching." The thundercloud disappeared, a smirk on the wizard's lips. _What a liar... _I thought.

Suddenly, it happened.

A flash. A flash of... of something else. A flash, like someone taking a picture with the expensive new devices called "kamras" or whatever, only this flash had an image. A flash of a life in a house like only rich spoiled princes had, and bickering with lots of people that looked awfully like "my" own monsters, and a baby that looked like Elder Rebo in a black and orange fedora...

A glance at Elder Rebo's stone-like face told me what had just happened was definitely _not _a daydream.

"Shuhan? Are you okay?" Gokudera tilted his head, puzzled at what was probably my eyes opened in horror or astonishment.

I shook it off. Whatever it was, there was some "training" to attend to. And I'd probably be beaten up by Elder Rebo if I didn't start to "train" soon.

"Aaaanyways," said Elder Rebo, drawing out the word to catch everybody's attention("everybody" being all four of my monsters and myself), "it's been more than 370 words already–"

"370 whats?" I interrupted. Mom had always taught be to be polite, but the magician's words in that context was far too bizarre.

"–and we haven't trained once." Elder Rebo completely ignored my question. He drew a sort of long, thin, oval-like shape in the air with his long wooden staff, and very suddenly a mini-tornado was inside the room, right above the table. It was throwing open the door and whipping tree leaves and dust and dirt everywhere. I held onto the ancient but sturdy table to avoid being lifted off my feet.

But then, all of a sudden, everything started to go black.

My other four senses were fading quickly, but I could almost be sure that I heard Elder Rebo say, "To be continued..."

**Shuhan = Leader**


	5. Real Training

**Real Training**

Author's Note: And your cliffhanger ends now!

"Being continued." A voice that belonged to only one person in the universe woke me up from lying faceup on the ground. Sure enough, when I blinked my eyes open, I was looking straight at the back of a certain spellcaster in navy blue robes.

It came back to me in a flash – all of it. The strange flash, the miniature tornado, the sensation that my energy was being sucked out of me... wait... _what? _"What happened, Elder _Rebo_?"

"Oh, you're awake," he said, turning to me with a slight smile. "This happened." And with that, he held up the long, thin object in his right hand. To my still-groggy brain I had first thought that it was simply his staff. In fact, it was a spear.

A _spear_?

Actually, no. It wasn't even that. To me, it seemed closer to a stick made in some reddish-colored wood with some grooves on the end.

Elder Rebo frowned. "Oh, that reminds me..." he took something metal on the table and plugged it into the end, turning a couple of times."_Now_ it's a spear."

Upon closer inspection, the metal object was a rather large arrowhead with two sideways spikes, both made in some fancy shining gray metal. It had a shockingly smooth surface, as opposed to the roughness of handcrafted things in the Vongola village market. The weapon felt very unstable in the hands of Dame-Tsuna...

"What... is... that...?" queried the (my?) Bandit Werecat, but Elder Rebo didn't respond.

With a flick of his wrist that was so fast I wasn't sure it actually happened, he sent a Mon-Mon candy straight to my mouth. Puzzled, I swallowed. Again. It was strawberry _again_. Strawberry when fighting Blood-Sucking Hibarin, strawberry when attacking Lightning Bolt Lambo, strawberry when fighting Hibarin _again_, strawberry now. When would it end? I was sure to get sick of the flavor soon.

But soon, the who-knows-_what-_Leo-X-puts-in-there in the Mon-Mon Candy started to activate and do its thing: power me up.

The typical flame on my forehead flickered to life, as did the utter confidence that always came when I was in Hyper Mode. The usual flames on my fists and thin black gloves ignited as well.

The spear, too.

In complete shock, I dropped it, still covered from top to bottom in bright orange-and-yellow fire. I expected the next moment to be of the wooden part of the "spear" turn to ash, but that moment never came. The spear burned. And kept burning.

Slowly, one by one, everyone except Elder Rebo and Lambo the Lightning Bolt stared at it. Then at Elder Rebo.

A loud "BWAH HAH HAH!" broke the half-minute silence. "Tsuna-stick burns, everything go BOOM, house destro-"

Gokudera cut in at that point, interrupting and completely ignoring the Lightning Bolt. "Why... How... What is this, Elder Rebo?"

"Ma, ma, Bandit Werecat, let the mage explain." Yamamoto laughed, as unaffected as he usually was by any serious atmosphere.

Elder Rebo stated bluntly, "It's a burning spear." _What a shocker._

I could almost literally see the vein in Gokudera's forehead jumping with rage.

"With a core of the same material in a Mon-Mon Candy." _What? Really?_

"The exact same power-giving substance used to form Mon-Mon Candies is in that spear."

"I DON'T UNDER-stand to, the... " Automatron Ryohei's minutes were up. Elder Rebo tossed another Mon-Mon Candy in his still-open mouth. His eyes blinked open. "EXTREEEME!"

"Hey, Elder Rebo. Aren't we supposed to be training?" I asked. _My_ flames were going to run out sometime, too. "Let's g-"

"**Tsuzuku.**"

_That again..._

**Tsuzuku = To be continued. Credits to Yuki949 for correcting me! You get a (virtual) cookie!**


	6. Real Fail in Training

**Real _Fail_ in Training**

Author's Note: I forgot to put this in the last chapters... Gomenasai! I DO NOT OWN KATEIKYOUSHI HITMAN REBORN! Or Harry Potter, for that matter... What? "What does this fanfiction have to do with Harry Potter" ? Ah, you'll see... NO, this is not turning into a crossover.

My first attempt at so-called _real _training did _not_ go so well. I managed to, somehow, spear my own foot while trying to do a "spear twirl" as Elder Rebo called it. Those shiny metal points are _sharp_! And I couldn't really get over the fact that it was spewing bright orange flames everywhere, even during Hyper Mode...

**_-Flashback-_**

_"Elder Rebo, I don't want to..."_

_"Tsunayoshi Sawada, Monster Party Leader and Tamer. They're _your _flames anyway. It's _your _spear. There's __**nothing **__to fear from it. Just grab it!"  
_

_And with that, the little sorcerer turned and walked straight out through the open back door._

The nerve of that devil! _I thought._

**_-Flash-forward-_**

I had, unfortunately, burned about a third of the nearby forest before Gokudera put some of it out with a flurry of attacks and Ryohei snuffed the rest by, well, running _through _it ("TO THE EXTREME!"). I was just glad that he didn't melt - being a sort of living robot and all - but I had barely gotten any training done that day. Elder Rebo's "encouragements" and "motivational actions" didn't do much to help, either.

Admittedly, I was still in denial of the whole "you're a descendant of a line of powerful Monster Tamers" thing, even though I was continuously being called a "Monster Party Leader." Gokudera kept embarrassing me by constantly referring to me as "Shuhan." Okay, so it wasn't all bad – I was no longer regarded as "No-Good Tsuna" after the news had spread about my dispelling Blood-Sucking Hibarin in the neighboring village. But... fighting a _dragon _might be a bit much for me. A giant leathery-winged fire-(or perhaps ice-)breathing lizardlike beast with near-impenetrable scales and sharp claws and teeth... I shivered at the very thought. That was what was waiting for me somewhere in the north with Princess Kyoko in its clutches, apparently. According to Elder Rebo...

Later that day, Elder Rebo grandly announced to me and my little troupe of monsters, "In about fifteen minutes, we'll be off!"

Three pairs of eyes stared at the smirking mage – Ryohei was slumped against the wall and Lambo was... well, being Lambo.

I broke the short silence. "Without food? Or supplies? Or _anything?_"

"If you have a weapon you can get your own food in the wild."

And then my Panic Switch wasn't "on". It was "ON!1!1one".

"No... food...?" I choked out, suddenly thinking of the five of us starving on some distant rocky, lifeless, snow-covered mountaintop while Elder Rebo summoned food and water from nowhere.

Elder Rebo countered, "There are deer. Birds. Fish. Berries. You slaughter your pigs, eat your chicken and their eggs, grow your own vegetables in the village of Vongola. Is this so different?" I stood there, horrified, transfixed, dimly hearing Yamamoto say, "I don't have any memories of food or eating... hahaha!" and Gokudera snapping back, "Shut up, _idiot_!"

"And I can't summon food from nowhere. It's part of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration."

"Say what?"

"'Thou shalt not create food from thin aire.' That's the first of Hesper Gamp's five Principal Exceptions in the art of wizardry and witchcraft." Elder Rebo said rather formally.

"Whatever" was my response. I didn't exactly need to learn magicians' gobbledygook. "You could've just said "No, I can't summon food from nowhere"...!"

"That's not how I roll. Anyway, seven of the fifteen minutes are up. Pack a few things, because we're going soon."

I started to pack a "few" things.

Then thought, _Well, thank goodness that isn't happening again. Now, at least, he isn't saying that absolutely ridiculou-_

"Tsuzuku."


	7. The Next Chapter

**The Next Chapter**

we wnet over high mountans nd burnin desserts nad a dark creepu forests look for the lair of he white frost dragon byakuron. until tuna, gokudear, ryohey and yamamoo and the stu pid cow finally fell into a pitt of angry starving hissing cobras an died. the end.

...

...

...

...

...

Okay, first of all, that is not me. I repeat, THAT IS NOT ME.

_-Flashback-_

_"Why... can't... I... DELETE... this... stuff?" I screamed out of mostly irritation with a hefty amount of frustration._

_"Because I'm a wizard. A bored one, to be specific. Why can't I have some fun every now and then? I was the one who trained you, who took you out of your miserable peasant life. You ought to be more grateful. I ought to get more screen time," said Elder Rebo.  
_

_"Screen time? This isn't a television show!" I countered, my anger no less if not more._

_"The concept is the same. But anyway, back to the point, hmm? It's only 49 words, less than half of a hundred. Less than 250 characters, about 200 if you don't include the spaces. It's not even 3 whole lines! Just give it up already!" Elder Rebo tried to calm me, to no effect._

I retaliated (rather futilely), "I am Tsuna, not "Tuna", Gokudera is not "Gokudear", you misspelled "Ryohei", Yamamoto is not a cow but a zombie, and why can't you bother to even try to really mention Lambo? And our death has to be suddenly falling into a bit of "angry starving hissing cobras"? What's with the horrible spelling and grammar and capitalization? The numerous typos throughout the thing? And I noticed that you _didn't get eaten by cobras."_

_"I just want to have fun. I _did _mention the Lightning Bolt. Angry starving hissing cobras adds a bit of drama, don't you think so? I was in a hurry to type it all before you could discover. And I do think that you're wasting valuable characters and lines and pages and even whole chapters by continuing this rather pointless flashback. Come on, if you truly want to be a half-decent author you should stop writing tittle-tattle like this. And maybe extending your chapters might be a good idea. Seriously, about 500 to 700 words per? Get a life. This book will never become popular. Never. Stick to recruiting monsters, Monster Party Leader/Tamer Tsuna. 'Tsunayoshi Sawada, author of a best-selling book'? Not gonna happen. _Never _gonna happen."_

I flushed redder than the little campfire.

_-Flash-forward-_

At least one part of that wretched imitation of this story is true. We went through "a dark creepu forests". I could swear that the whole forest was watching me, watching us, like a lion watching a gazelle entering his territory. It came to me as a relief that the forest was relatively short. We, all of us, trudged onward: Automaton Ryohei, Bandit Werecat Gokudera, Lightning Bolt Lambo, Merry Zombie Yamamoto, Elder Rebo. And me, Monster Tamer Tsuna, who had a sense that something was wrong. Very wrong. I could nearly feel it emanating from someone or something close at hand.

Extremely close at hand.

"It" being a sinister, nearly evil, deadly murderous aura.

But that is another chapter.

So, as Elder Rebo would say...

"Tsuzuku."

I pouted. "Aw, Elder Rebo! You ruined all the drama!"

"Hey, I'm a wizard. To be specific, a bored one. Why can't I have a bit of fun every now and then?"

"Wait a minute; this is how the whole thing all started! Now... finally... _tsuzuku!_" I finished.


	8. Pineapple Cake

**Pineapple Cake**

Author's Note: I apologize for the longish delay, but it was necessary to fit with the story. You'll see... I DO NOT OWN KATEIK YOUSHI HITMAN REBORN! Wow, this chapter is _just _over one thousand one hundred words long. A new record for this fan fiction! Okay, I should stop blabbing on and on, because this A/N is over 35 words long.

The strange sense of someone spying, of murderous intent, of evil beings, of horrendous trepidation, grew. The little group of me and my monsters trudged onward, continuing the long, arduous journey to what was (is?) known as the Barren Northerlands. The Panic Switch, lodged, unmoving, somewhere in my subconscious mind, had intensified to the point where I was almost twitchy from terror; who – or _what _– was pursuing the six of us? Tracking our every footstep somewhere in the darkness? Shadowing us like a panther stalking its prey? Once or twice I thought I heard a rustle of leaves, but that may have been just the wind. I was jumpy. I was terrified. And the only explanation that I could think of, the only justification that my subconscious told me, was, _He's coming!_ _He's coming!_

Some of the others noticed my Panicked and restless state of mind. Of course they did; I couldn't hide it forever. Bandit Werecat Gokudera in particular was concerned about me: "Shuhan, are you sick or something? You're acting... kind of weird..." "Did that Hibatin or whatever get you that time, Shuhan?" "Shuhan, are you all right? Shut up, brainless idiot! What's wrong? Shuhan!" Gokudera wasn't alone, though. Merry Zombie Yamamoto was less merry than I had ever seen him. Elder Rebo said nothing, but his face was grave, and he kept shooting glances at me every now and then. I didn't know what to make of it.

I chastised myself, trying to throw off the unnatural dread, attempting to be stern in telling myself that it just was an illusion and no more. But my attempts were futile: For just under a week, I suffered. Dame-Tsuna I always was, am, and will be...

I was afraid (of course) to find out what in the world was causing this agonizing despair, but of course I did eventually. Life just doesn't always work out the way you want or expect it to, as I had good reason to know – being bullied and meeting Elder Rebo to become a Monster Tamer, of course...

For six days and five nights I didn't know _why _my Panic Switch was spiraling out of control, why every other thought was punctuated with _He's coming! HE'S COMING!_

Until now – which is to say, _precisely _5:00 P.M. on Friday, January 21 in the year which is called 2011.

Bandit Werecat Gokudera, Merry Zombie Yamamoto, Lightning Bolt Lambo, Automaton Ryohei, Arcodiluna (as he called himself – what a weird title) Rebo, and I, Monster Tamer Tsunayoshi, were traversing a rather large savannah. We walked – or maybe the appropriate word was _waded_ - through yellowish green, foot-high grass that lazily swayed to and fro in the light breeze. The wizard and monsters were chatting lightly; me, I was pondering what the change in my fear-stricken mind was. Said change was from _He's coming, he's COMING! _to _He's COMING! The PINEAPPLE is COMING! _when, all of a sudden, he _came._

...No. No, that is wrong. _She _came first. I saw _her _hair behind a large boulder in the grassy field. A bit of her purple hairstyle was poking out, making the whole boulder look rather a lot like a large grayish pineapple.

...A _pineapple?_...

"Wh-Who's the-ere?" I had called out, shivering violently like it was freezing, only it was still light and relatively warm: The sun was just about to set. I was nearly paralyzed, although I recognized her the moment she stepped out behind the rock. My "Monster Party" relaxed; I relaxed; my frantic Panic Switch relaxed, about two increments, and very small increments at that.

The mummy, whose name I forgot and whose body was still half-hidden behind the large mossy stone, quivered. (In what - anticipation? Surprise? Fear, like me? Okay, fear didn't even begin to describe what I was feeling. Anyway, I will never know.) Her pink dress ruffled in the wind, like the grass all around her. Slightly rosy in the cheeks, she adjusted her blue and red eyepatch and the white bandages around her head. Her mouth was curved in a frown.

"A-Ano... ano... so, why are you here?" I asked, my voice drifting off so that my last word was barely audible. Everyone except the slightly shaking mummy seemed to be waiting for something with bated breath, me included.

She ignored my question, looking to her right – my left – and at the large mossy rock. She uttered a few words so quietly that I could barely hear them. "Mukuro... sama... why... now? What...?"

A loud and mischievous-sounding "Kufufu" froze me immediately, rooting me to the spot like there was superglue under my shoes. For a few seconds, everything, the sky, the long grass, the monsters present, Elder Rebo, everything, rippled. It was like one of those weird mirrors in carnival fun houses – all I saw was distorted. My head spun and I reeled, my Panic Switch went beserk and I cowered, for a moment. I could barely hear Gokudera's cry of "Shuhan! Are you okay? What's happening?"

And then the moment was gone. Everything was proper; nothing had changed. Except for...

"HIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! M-M-M-M-M-Mu-Muk-k..." I stopped, coughed, cleared my throat. It sounded similar to trying to start a lawn mower. Bandit Werecat Gokudera threw himself in front of me, arms spread wide in a protective manner, facing the danger. "Shuhan, run!" he had shouted. But that couldn't erase the image that was now burned in the back of my retina. I didn't run. No longer stuck, but rather quaking, I peeked under Gokudera's right arm, perhaps subconsciously hoping that my eyes were faulty. But my screaming-loud Panic Switch had made no mistake. "M-M-Mu-k-kur-r-r-ro?"

Gokudera scowled, Yamamoto grew serious, Ryohei was actually quiet, and Lambo even stopped playing but started crying(loudly). All were facing the "Kufufu"ing purple-haired heterochromatic-eyed pineapple-stick-wielding Monster Tamer. Elder "Arcodiluna" Rebo finished the scene with an ominously said "Tsuzuku..."


	9. I Have Come to Fight?

**I Have Come to Fight...?**

Author's Note: You all know what I don't own... So, yeah...

"Kufufu. Kufufufufu... We meet again, Tsunayoshi Sawada," said the Monster Tamer, Mukuro.

I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly but could not speak.

"Don't be so frightened, little one." I thought that was addressed to me, but Mukuro then turned around and patted the mummy (who looked an awful lot like he did!) on her head like she was a child.

"Stop shaking, Tsuna." Elder Rebo's voice made me jump. The wizard aimed a vicious kick at my right ankle, which made me hop up and down on the spot for several minutes. "OW! Owowowow... _What, Elder Rebo?_" I whispered, glaring down at him. He was facing Mukuro again, like nothing had happened. _Why at a time like this would he...?_

Another sinister-sounding "Kufufu" turned my attention back to Rokudo Mukuro, who said, "Amusing, but let's get down to the point why I – I mean, _we_ – are here." Mukuro aimed a smile at the mummy, whose name I now remembered: Chrome.

Some courage flared up in me from who knows where, and I demanded, voice no longer shaking, "So why would that be? Why are you out of your kingdom?"

"Someone is impatient, hmm? I have traveled a long way; the kingdom I reside in is farther south than yours is." He paused to chuckle again. My breath hitched in my throat; I waited for more.

Gokudera broke the short silence with a rage. "So what's that supposed to mean, Melonhead?" _Melonhead? We have an "octopus", a "brainless", a "turf-top", an "idiot spark", and now "Melon head" ... Gokudera... _I thought.

A vein twitched noticeably in Mukuro's forehead, but he seemed otherwise cool and composed. "The reason that I am here is this..." Mukuro paused to look around. No face was friendly. "I have come to fight the Wh-"

"AHA!" shouted Gokudera, making me jump. "You're here for the, I mean, _our_ Monster Shuhan, aren't you? Let us fight! You, me, for the Shuhan!"

"Maa, maa, Gokudera," said Yamamoto with an attempt at his usually happy nature, but his voice was strained. He held up his hands like he was trying to physically stop Gokudera from flying into a rage or something. "Let's listen to his story first..."

"A wise decision. You shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so quickly, youngster. I have come to fight," Mukuro stated, pausing again for effect, "the White Frost Dragon... Byakuran."

The others were startled; Elder Rebo, who I had forgotten, narrowed his eyes; I was so astounded I cried out, "Byakuran?" Ryohei bellowed out, "EXTREMELY CONFUSED!" making me jump again.

"For the one who defeated Blood-Sucking Hibarin, you are surprisingly slow, Tsunayoshi Sawada, so-called "Tamer of Monsters". Yes, Byakuran. There were whispers that your remotely gang was heading north to fight him. I, too, am rescuing one of Byakuran's captive."

_A princess? Wait... yo-_"u're helping me?" I hadn't realized I said the last few words aloud, but Mukuro answered coolly, while Chrome nodded vigorously behind him(in a way that was really distracting).

"I would prefer not to be included within or counted as one of... your lot," said he, vaguely gesturing to the monsters semi-huddled behind me. "But yes, regarding certain circumstances and times, I will 'help' you. Tsunayoshi... May we meet again... in the Great Barren Northerlands." He drew a rough star shape in the air with his pineapple stick.

With that, the air shimmered again. "Wait!" I called out, voice panicky, but from desperation rather than fear. There was so much more I wanted to ask the other Monster Tamer. _How did you appear our of thin air? Why do you carry around a stick with a pineapple on the end? Why do you look so much like Chrome, or vice versa?_

But Rokudo Mukuro had gone, and Mummy Chrome as well.

_Almost a week of me being frozen in fear leads to him telling us he'll help indirectly... wow... _I thought, sighing. _All that wasted terror over an... ally?_

Then, whether from relief or exhaustion, I did and do not know, I passed out.

Blackness overcame me.


	10. Allies and ' More Allies

**Allies and... More Allies**

Author's Note: I really should update this more often.

"Wha... what happened?" I asked no one in particular, still groggy from having been unconscious/sleeping/in a coma.

"Exhaustion happened, my Monster Tamer," said Elder Rebo with hands spread wide. It was like he was praying to the gods or something. I stared.

Elder Rebo continued, "Extraterrestrials tell me that –"

"WHAT?"

"- that your, ah, predicament, has left you tired and sleep-deprived. You were simply sleeping... for the whole day. It's nighttime now."

_Well... wow... _"Let's go make up for all that lost time... Who knows what horrors Princess Kyoko could be undergoing?" I imagined a giant white dragon blowing tufts of fire very near to Kyoko, with the latter screaming in fear for a savior. I resolved to move faster.

* * *

So we went, trudging through the darkness over a small mountain, ever heading to the Barren Northerlands. A few events occurred on the way...

On the way up, I screamed.

"HIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! A mountain lion!"

"You've taken down a vampire, but are still scared of a mountain lion? How pathetic...," Elder Rebo scoffed.

"D-Don't worry, Shuhan! I will protect you until my dying day!" Gokudera brandished paw and claw and sharp-ish teeth; the full moon was out today.

It/He/She leaped! I turned to run, only my left foot caught on an evil, reaching tree root of some kind, and I fell – clumsy as ever. In the same instant that the lion landed, Gokudera bounded toward it on all fours. He pounced – and the mountain lion _retreated several paces._

**Hey, now, **I heard. _What...?_

**Be at peace, young ones, I have not come to harm you.**

It was a... voice, yet somehow I didn't _hear _it, not really. Like, it was a thought. In my mind. _Telepathy? How preposterous..._

**Your Monster Tamer is correct: This is telepathy. I am, as you should know by now, a Wereleopard.**

_...How should we know by now?_

I waited for more, no longer scared. The... voice... thoughts... telepathy... whatever, had brought with it a sense of confidence, of courage.

Bandit Werecat Gokudera was shaking, whether from fear or awe or disbelief I did not know. He stared at the place where the Wereleopard was hiding in the shadows with eyes the size of oranges.

**I am the father of the one who you call Bandit Werecat Gokudera.**

"F-Father..." whispered said Werecat.

"Gokudera's father?" asked Yamamoto with a strained laugh.

Yelled a certain automaton, "THIS SITUATION IS STRANGE TO THE EXTREME!"

"Stupidera's stupider papa!" Big guess to who said that.

**But I am mere spirit to those in the Waking World...**

The spot where the Wereleopard had been shone with an eerie white light, outlining the form of the leopard... Gokudera's father. He seemed to rise up on his hind legs, and the light faded to reveal a human with leopard ears, tail, paws, claws, and some fur – just like Bandit Werecat Gokudera. But he was taller, aged, and looked slightly transparent – like a ghost. I quivered, while Gokudera stared in awe.

"Wasn't... Father... wasn't the White Frost Dragon, Byakuran, your... killer?" Gokudera's face twisted into a scowl as he said that last word, surely hating Byakuran.

**I... will do my best... to protect you all... on your journey... Because... the White Frost Dragon... is more powerful... than you have... ever imagined... Farewell for now!**

"Che!" spat the Bandit Werecat when his father had disappeared. "No good, lousy, lazy, I wonder how he really will 'protect us all our our journey'..." Gokudera kicked a rock, only to pay the price with a stubbed toe/paw.

After much calming down of nerves and gulping of food(the whole food thing wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!), we set out... again. Going _down _the little mountain wasn't as terrifying... to some. For me, it was a very painful experience of tripping at least ten times. I stumbled and cartwheeled and bounced and rolled all the way down, with a four-footed Bandit Werecat hurriedly running after me and trying to help me as best as he could.

"'Protect us all', hah! Your dad can't protect me from falling down a cliff..." I muttered to Gokudera as we set up camp.


End file.
